Thursday, September 14, 2006

If anyone knows the name 'Anita Blake' it means they might have heard of the author, Laurell K Hamilton. LKH is in the unique position of having a large fan base, some of which loathes her most recent works; from book 11 or 12 onwards. The rest of her fan base is rabid and loyal and say things like how her works have become their marital aides; Anita Blake on the nightstand to make the hubby rev up.

There was supposed to have been a comic deal with independent Dabel. Issues 1 & 2 of the arc 'Guilty Pleasures' - the same as the first book - were supposed to be out. But then they couldn't be found by anyone. It turns out that Marvel bought out Dabel and Dabel's going to be their version of the Vertigo Imprint; sophisticated adult (mature) fare.

I loved the first ten or so Anita Blake novels. I am one of that apparent minority of fans who think the quality of writing has plummeted since then and there's been a serious lack of plot and mindless and quite awful sex (porn). I feel like this is yet another reason why I'm following DC characters.

There was an blog-article I wanted to link to that described a potential difference between Marvel and DC as 'What does it mean to live in a world of super humans' vs 'What is it like to be a superhero'. Anita stopped being a superhero for me a good couple of years ago. And I haven't even found it all that interesting to look at her world of super humans; because the protagonist seemed to always be looking at them on her back. Just like 'Civil War' I can't understand the impetus of this, other than to try to latch onto to another group of people with wallets. I'm possibly quite bitter to see this as yet another sign that Marvel's less discreet about showing 'it's all about the money'.

However, I'd much rather Marvel's character have potential crossovers with Anita that DC. There's no way I want that Mary Sue Ho anywhere near my Batman.